The Dauntless Games
by Geminia Riddle
Summary: In the year 2080, humans have been hunted to near extinction. Every year, the people select 9 children from the age of 12 to 14 to enter a city and learn to survive on their own for five months. Lyra and her friends, Bara, Lona, Clemon, Hem, Alec, George, Boot and Jordan must learn to how to outwit this game to see the light of the real sun shine again. Boot/Bara and Lyra/Jordan.


The Dauntless Games

Breathe in, breathe out. In, out. Calm down, Lyrissa. Just calm.

I stepped into the corner, hoping to find a tiny space I could squeeze into.

My snowy lavender hair blew into my face as I gasped. I was glad I didn't step any further into the night air.

Cars and people moved on the sidewalk. Even the people looked like ants.

Stepping back, I studied myself in the window. I hope didn't look too dirty. Black shirt, no dust on it? Check.

Long violet snow hair, untangled? Check. Two gold star clips? Check. And purple eyes still un-wild? Check. Black boots, heels at the end? Check. Gray-Purple skirt with no dust? Check.

Clemon, the boy with excited dark brown eyes and dark hair hissed at me to get down. "Boot's coming!"

I slammed my back to the wall, desperately hoping that Boot didn't notice me. The short dark-haired and tanned boy did not notice Clemon or me.

Boot was actually just his last name. His name was actually Terry, but since he always introduced himself as "Terry Boot the Greatest Boy on Earth" we came up with the nickname Boot.

I leapt down and motioned for Clemon to do the same. "And watch for that step there," I gestured to the edge I nearly fell off. "I nearly stepped off the edge of the roof."

"Gee, Lyra," He gasped as he jumped down, "How fearless are you?"

"Little bit. Now come on, let's move."

I knelt down next to the edge of the wall. It was on the top of a roof on a café we went to, so you could probably imagine what it looked like.

A flash of bright blue skimmed the scene in front of me toward the electric powering boxes.

Lona.

Typical of her to wear that when we were in the middle of a Tag Game.

I flew toward the girl in the ponytail.

Her emerald eyes weren't calm, but she doesn't show any sign of panic.

"Lona." I duck behind the electricity box and fence just as Boot yells "You're it!" to George, presumably.

Her white clips are pinned to her head in her short, teal hair. A headband is pressed down into it to keep it from poofing all over the place.

She wears a blue-green off shoulder shirt with a tank top underneath. A blue skirt could be seen underneath.

I press my hand on the edge of the fence and peek out. All clear. I motioned for Lona to follow me in between two buildings and a few pipes.

I gulped when I heard George yell at Hem that he was it.

And it was from in front of us, in front of the pipes we dove behind.

"Hey, where are Lyra and Lona?" Mumbled Hem as he turned about, then decided he was going for somebody else.

Lona and I took that chance.

I jumped onto the pipes after Lona and climbed towards another electric box fence.

I jumped behind one and Lona the other.

Hem rounded the corner and Lona and I ran back to the original starting place.

Hem did not see us. But he did turn our way.

I grabbed the right building. The ladder. I snatched it and swung onto the inside of it, so I hid in the ladder.

"THE DAUNTLESS GAMES- THE UNDER!"

At hearing this, I jumped from the ladder and Lona and I zipped for the door.

Characters:

Lyrissa

Boot

Lona

Clemon

Hem

Bara

George

Alec

Jordan

Bara was jumping with excitement, causing her see-through sleeves of her one-piece white dress fluttering and her bright pink pigtails jumping. Her eyes, of course, were made of honey jostled around in a jar.

Boot was sitting around his head in his hands. George had tan-ish skin with dull black hair and eyes. Alex had close-cropped dark hair and tanned skin.

Hem sat nearby, looking bored out of his mind. He looked almost identical to Boot, except that he was taller and his eyes were narrower.

I slid down from the metal handrail and hopped down. "Who's the Terminator?" I stared warily at each of them.

Hem raised his hand. "I give you all three seconds to run."

"Three."

Lona and Bara headed off together.

I sidestepped out of the picture and jumped up to a window.

"Two."

Bara and Lona attempt to hide behind the little emerald train cart.

Bara is too visible.

I stand completely still.

"One."

I jump down the slide and wait at the corner for Hem to disappear. I spot Bara's white dress from underneath the train.

Hem, apparently, has spotted them too. He steps away from me and walks toward the train.

I zip out of my hiding place and take a turn to the outdoor café rows and run to a hidden "hall" or shortcut to the other side of the mall.

Bara and Lona back away slowly from Hem with their hands raised in a defensive position.

I was facing them from here, so I motioned for them to both run in different directions.

Then I disappeared down the tunnel.

Lona and Bara both caught on, breathing heavily.

We ran down the side of the street, passing fast-food restaurant doors and plant areas.

"Hey! Get back here!"

Boot.

I skid to a stop unintentionally dramatic on the street road and dart behind the signpost I saw.

Bara and Lona dive behind different signs and pillars.

Please don't come here, please don't come here, please don't…

Boot heads to a different direction and I sigh. However, I do hear a little squeal… and to see Bara charging at me.

Oh, NO.

I was now the Terminator. I ran off toward the tunnel where I saw Boot disappear into.

I zipped toward his soundlessly and wacked his shoulder, hissing, "Abnegate."

I double back and run to another corner. I was tired, dirty, and feeling overheated.

I slipped up the stairs with Bara and Lona to get a glass of water. I went to the bathroom and washed my face and set out again, to meet Clemon, Boot, Alec, and George all sweating and gasping for air.

I let them get themselves together first, then we all trooped downstairs to restart the game.

Hem was nowhere to be found.

"Three."

Boot.

"Two."

Lona and Bara steady themselves beside me.

"One."

We were already in another tunnel, where I heard water and flushing noises.

It was dark, but we walked down to the door and peeked inside.

Lona's mum was in there, her back turned to us.

We tore out of the half-tunnel before the curly-haired woman turned back to see us.

"You're IT!"

Boot had Terminated Bara.

Lona and I dashed out of the tunnel and into the other side of the mall.

I leapt behind a black SUV car and knelt behind the wheel.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, and then went through the tunnel again.

Before jumping straight out into the open, I checked the sides.

But I shouldn't be looking for the sides. I should be looking in front of me.

Hem.

He jumped when he saw me, and backed away with the skateboard in front of him.

"Calm down, dude. You looked like you just saw a ghost." Lona joked, trying to ease him.

"None of us are Terminators." I said.

Hem still looked suspicious. Which he should be, if I were him. I have tricked many people, including Bara, who thought I was going to tickle Lona, but I tickled her instead.

Pounding feet at the other end.

Boot.

"Drat! Let's go people, no time for chatting!"

Hem lay down his board and hopped on. We took the long road to the front of the mall again, making sure to lose Boot along the way.

Lona and I went up the escalator, since time was tight.

A few minutes later, we were waving goodbye to each other.

How did it go? Well, let's just say that the anniversary for the next Dauntless Games are already considered set.

_VOCAB:_

_Dauntless Games: A game of tag and hide-and-seek._

_Terminated: To be tagged or be made "it."_

Who knew a simple game could be so dangerous?

I didn't. No one did.

But here we are, one week later, with terminators walking the streets of the same mall.

The makers of the game want to destroy us.

Two Months Later

LYRISSA

"Run, run, run! You two, get out!"

Jordan grabbed my arm and leapt from the pipe hideout we were taking.

"Lona!"

I grasped the girl's arm and dragged her along.

Jordan was an extremely sarcastic boy with curly black hair and dark eyes, and not to mention pale skin. He just joined us this week, and this week was when the disaster struck.

Bara followed along, just as the pipes exploded behind her.

She was running fast, but not fast enough.

I grabbed my customized ninja stars.

They were spherical orbs with the sign of yin-yang on them, and would flare up in fire as soon as they touched the enemy. The purple and gold string on my fingers connecting them were unbreakable.

I used them to snatch Bara away from the explosion of pipes.

"Whew! That was close, Lyra. Thanks."

All of the crew joined up together.

"Here's the plan. I was thinking that we could do this in triples. Bara, Boot, and Alec, Lona, Jordan, and me, Hem and George, and Clemon."

All of us nodded. "We split up. Hide anywhere, don't try to attack. Got it?"

They all nodded.

"Come on, then."

I stood tall as the night wind blew my hair away from my face.

"Jumping off the roof? Sounds dramatic." Jordan joked.

"Ha-ha, very sarcastic… NOT."

"Just keep flirting, and we'll see where this goes- What?" The turquoise haired girl shrugged.

I took another step toward the edge.

"Um, Lyra? It doesn't seem like a good idea…" Lona trailed off as she realized I was being serious.

"Ne…Then what other choice do we have? The terminators are way stronger than us."

"Either way, I don't like it."

"Too bad."

I stepped back and took a running leap.

I dove downwards, headfirst, arms behind me.

I flipped so that my back faced the ground. I shot out the ninja stars I had named Yume and Meyumi.

They caught the streetlights and I swung down to the ground, over the shiny robot head of a terminator.

I knew that Lona had magnet shoes, and Jordan had a large brush that had a sharp end and a magnetic end.

They landed smoothly on the side street.

"**Subject Found. Taking Aim**."

We spun round, to find the sleek black and red shooter arm of a terminator staring me in the face.

"**Shooting in 3…2…1…****"**

I tossed Yume to Lona and shot Meyumi onto the light post above, dragging Jordan with me.

All of us landed smoothly onto the light-post as the terminator's bullet found the empty street.

Our relief was not for long.

A clawed machine hand shot out and snatched Lona from her position.

"Lona!"

I tried to grab her using Meyumi, but the string wasn't long enough, surprisingly. Or perhaps we acted too late.

I sat down in despair (On the light, of course).

"Now what?"

Jordan suddenly tapped may shoulder. "They're taking her to the roof of SOHO! C'mon, let's go!"

I leapt off the light and we tore through the streets.

"Please, please, please don't kill her."

BARA

Boot and I were in serious trouble.

Let's start with: WE LOST ALEC.

"Boot, you idiot! How could you afford to lose another team member! The plan was to survive these games for two weeks and head back home, idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"

"Ugh.. Bara, if you yell louder, the terminators are gonna catch us."

We were crouching behind a bush when I had leapt up and started screaming at him. Now he pulled me back down and we stared forward, studying our surroundings.

And then someone- or something- pulled me away. I could only register Boot yelling, "Behind you!" Before everything went black.

Jordan

Okay, so a little summary here.

1. Lyrissa had this wonderful idea to jump off a roof.

Good news: It worked.

Bad news: We nearly got shot.

2. We lost Lona.

Good news: One less member in our group.

Bad news: We lost a member of our group.

"Ne, Jordan! Boot just contacted me. He lost Alec and Bara."

What I said about the one less member was good thing? Forget I said that. It is SCARY to be out here. If I didn't have Lyra here now… I'd probably be dead.

Lyra's feet were going so fast she looked like she was flying. Of course, in the tunnel light, we couldn't really tell.

The night eventually got too dark to see, because terminators had extinguished the lights.

Apparently, Lyra got Yume back as well, because she lit both of the stars up in her hands and tossed one to me.

I fumbled with it, but I didn't lose it.

"There! SOHO building!"

I don't know where she got her awesome eyesight from, but I didn't care. All I knew was that she was pretty, clever, and sarcastic.

Wait, what?

"On the roof, I think. I see figures."

Never mind I said anything. At least this thing isn't going to be published.

I handed back Meyumi as I flicked out my paintbrush and painted up the wall. I stepped onto the walls while Lyra just flicked out Yume and jumped up an entire level.

We continued that way, me painting walls of glass while Yume got Lyra onto the top level.

When we looked down, SOHO garden looked like it was Photo-Shopped using a swirl design. Everything was mixed up.

Speaking of swirls, some purple, blue and green ones were dancing in front of us.

Faeries (They were genetically modified people that have robot wings attached to their backs).

If you looked closely, you could see that the purple one had wide blonde hair that was stretched to her shoulders by some ornaments. Her eyes were dark blue, wise and sharp. Her clothing included a long ruffled purple skirt to her feet, a blue tank top with only one sleeve and slim, sharp-edged purple wings.

Her name was Nebulae. (Ne-BU-Lie)

She touched down on Lyra's shoulder and pulled at the girl's snowflake earrings.

"Ow," Muttered Lyra, surprised. "Nebulae! Where were you?"

"Speaking with Frosty on how to get you out."

Nebulae gestured to the blue faerie.

Her lips were light blue, her short frizzy hair was light blue, her short skirt was a shade of ice blue, her tank top was also blue, and so were her eyes.

Yup, that's Lona's faerie.

Speaking of which…

Something just pulled my ear.

That would be Asteroid.

Talk about pixie-like! Her hair was a green pixie cut, eyes sharp and pale blue, her dress was very "Santa Claus-ish" except it was green. She wore a red headband in her hair (I told her before red and green make a bad match, but she thought I was insulting her hair).

"What, no hello for me? I'm your faerie, for Pete's sake!"

I turned and stuck out my tongue at the green-aura faerie.

"You are a PIXIE."

Asteroid shook her head. "Never mind."

We stared at the camp.

Lyra took out Meyumi and flung it as far out as she can when the terminators went off to do something else.

She started dragging the cage holding Lona toward us. Lona smiled at us and nodded excitedly.

The floor did not give away our attempt at rescue, but one terminator turned, studying the scene.

Lyra hurriedly took Meyumi back into her palm. The terminator then made his way to the edge of the building, where we were hiding.

"Duck!" Lyra hissed hurriedly, dropping to her knees.

The terminator clanked to the edge of the building and stood there for a minute, though it felt like hours.

Smoke stated wafting from the end of it's guns, preparing to shoot.

I started to gag, but Lyra smacks her (very cold, mind you) hand across my mouth and shuts me up.

The terminator hears a noise made by Lona to distract it.

"**Shut Up Human**."

The terminator left, and Lyra continued to get a clear shot of Lona.

Frosty helped Nebulae, Asteroid and I get down the building, while Lyra stayed to rescue the other prisoners.

Please, please let her be safe…

LYRISSA

I shot out both stars and dragged the cage that was holding Lona. The cage slid over easily and using my hair clip, I unlocked the cage. Lona tumbled down and I grabbed her easily and steadied her.

A Terminator clanked over. It stared over the edge, scanning its surroundings.

Then it decided to look down.

I took that chance to curl Yume around its metal throat and Lona thought it would be a good time to snip it's tiny head off with her bracelet, which is really a sharp-edged metal chain with a few ornaments dangling from it.

The other terminators closed in.

No time to hop down.

I gave Yume to Lona and shot Meyumi into the light sign of SOHO.

And I jumped.

Instead of making the whole way there, I pulled back Meyumi midway from the swing and fired it at another, lower building.

I could feel Lona's presence behind me, and even from up here, I could see a faint silhouette of Jordan, framed by the three faeries.

A bullet ricocheted off of the glass in front of us.

"They're trying to shoot us down!" Lona screamed.

"No," I replied, "They're trying to shoot invisible balloons to win a prize! Of course they're trying to shoot us down!"

Jordan (A.K.A Mr. Sarcastic) would be proud.

I swung away from the shooting by staring at the reflection from the glass.

I dodge an incoming bullet by swinging to my right.

The glass exploded, showering me in shards.

The next bullet sliced a cut on Lona's hand, and she dropped to the ground, screaming. I caught Yume in my free hand.

The third bullet cut straight through the path that Meyumi was traveling to, and gravity took over, and I plummeted, headfirst, towards the ground.

The Dauntless Games

Breathe in, breathe out. In, out. Calm down, Lyrissa. Just calm.

I stepped into the corner, hoping to find a tiny space I could squeeze into.

My snowy lavender hair blew into my face as I gasped. I was glad I didn't step any further into the night air.

Cars and people moved on the sidewalk. Even the people looked like ants.

Stepping back, I studied myself in the window. I hope didn't look too dirty. Black shirt, no dust on it? Check.

Long violet snow hair, untangled? Check. Two gold star clips? Check. And purple eyes still un-wild? Check. Black boots, heels at the end? Check. Gray-Purple skirt with no dust? Check.

Clemon, the boy with excited dark brown eyes and dark hair hissed at me to get down. "Boot's coming!"

I slammed my back to the wall, desperately hoping that Boot didn't notice me. The short dark-haired and tanned boy did not notice Clemon or me.

Boot was actually just his last name. His name was actually Terry, but since he always introduced himself as "Terry Boot the Greatest Boy on Earth" we came up with the nickname Boot.

I leapt down and motioned for Clemon to do the same. "And watch for that step there," I gestured to the edge I nearly fell off. "I nearly stepped off the edge of the roof."

"Gee, Lyra," He gasped as he jumped down, "How fearless are you?"

"Little bit. Now come on, let's move."

I knelt down next to the edge of the wall. It was on the top of a roof on a café we went to, so you could probably imagine what it looked like.

A flash of bright blue skimmed the scene in front of me toward the electric powering boxes.

Lona.

Typical of her to wear that when we were in the middle of a Tag Game.

I flew toward the girl in the ponytail.

Her emerald eyes weren't calm, but she doesn't show any sign of panic.

"Lona." I duck behind the electricity box and fence just as Boot yells "You're it!" to George, presumably.

Her white clips are pinned to her head in her short, teal hair. A headband is pressed down into it to keep it from poofing all over the place.

She wears a blue-green off shoulder shirt with a tank top underneath. A blue skirt could be seen underneath.

I press my hand on the edge of the fence and peek out. All clear. I motioned for Lona to follow me in between two buildings and a few pipes.

I gulped when I heard George yell at Hem that he was it.

And it was from in front of us, in front of the pipes we dove behind.

"Hey, where are Lyra and Lona?" Mumbled Hem as he turned about, then decided he was going for somebody else.

Lona and I took that chance.

I jumped onto the pipes after Lona and climbed towards another electric box fence.

I jumped behind one and Lona the other.

Hem rounded the corner and Lona and I ran back to the original starting place.

Hem did not see us. But he did turn our way.

I grabbed the right building. The ladder. I snatched it and swung onto the inside of it, so I hid in the ladder.

"THE DAUNTLESS GAMES- THE UNDER!"

At hearing this, I jumped from the ladder and Lona and I zipped for the door.

Characters:

Lyrissa

Boot

Lona

Clemon

Hem

Bara

George

Alec

Jordan

Bara was jumping with excitement, causing her see-through sleeves of her one-piece white dress fluttering and her bright pink pigtails jumping. Her eyes, of course, were made of honey jostled around in a jar.

Boot was sitting around his head in his hands. George had tan-ish skin with dull black hair and eyes. Alex had close-cropped dark hair and tanned skin.

Hem sat nearby, looking bored out of his mind. He looked almost identical to Boot, except that he was taller and his eyes were narrower.

I slid down from the metal handrail and hopped down. "Who's the Terminator?" I stared warily at each of them.

Hem raised his hand. "I give you all three seconds to run."

"Three."

Lona and Bara headed off together.

I sidestepped out of the picture and jumped up to a window.

"Two."

Bara and Lona attempt to hide behind the little emerald train cart.

Bara is too visible.

I stand completely still.

"One."

I jump down the slide and wait at the corner for Hem to disappear. I spot Bara's white dress from underneath the train.

Hem, apparently, has spotted them too. He steps away from me and walks toward the train.

I zip out of my hiding place and take a turn to the outdoor café rows and run to a hidden "hall" or shortcut to the other side of the mall.

Bara and Lona back away slowly from Hem with their hands raised in a defensive position.

I was facing them from here, so I motioned for them to both run in different directions.

Then I disappeared down the tunnel.

Lona and Bara both caught on, breathing heavily.

We ran down the side of the street, passing fast-food restaurant doors and plant areas.

"Hey! Get back here!"

Boot.

I skid to a stop unintentionally dramatic on the street road and dart behind the signpost I saw.

Bara and Lona dive behind different signs and pillars.

Please don't come here, please don't come here, please don't…

Boot heads to a different direction and I sigh. However, I do hear a little squeal… and to see Bara charging at me.

Oh, NO.

I was now the Terminator. I ran off toward the tunnel where I saw Boot disappear into.

I zipped toward his soundlessly and wacked his shoulder, hissing, "Abnegate."

I double back and run to another corner. I was tired, dirty, and feeling overheated.

I slipped up the stairs with Bara and Lona to get a glass of water. I went to the bathroom and washed my face and set out again, to meet Clemon, Boot, Alec, and George all sweating and gasping for air.

I let them get themselves together first, then we all trooped downstairs to restart the game.

Hem was nowhere to be found.

"Three."

Boot.

"Two."

Lona and Bara steady themselves beside me.

"One."

We were already in another tunnel, where I heard water and flushing noises.

It was dark, but we walked down to the door and peeked inside.

Lona's mum was in there, her back turned to us.

We tore out of the half-tunnel before the curly-haired woman turned back to see us.

"You're IT!"

Boot had Terminated Bara.

Lona and I dashed out of the tunnel and into the other side of the mall.

I leapt behind a black SUV car and knelt behind the wheel.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, and then went through the tunnel again.

Before jumping straight out into the open, I checked the sides.

But I shouldn't be looking for the sides. I should be looking in front of me.

Hem.

He jumped when he saw me, and backed away with the skateboard in front of him.

"Calm down, dude. You looked like you just saw a ghost." Lona joked, trying to ease him.

"None of us are Terminators." I said.

Hem still looked suspicious. Which he should be, if I were him. I have tricked many people, including Bara, who thought I was going to tickle Lona, but I tickled her instead.

Pounding feet at the other end.

Boot.

"Drat! Let's go people, no time for chatting!"

Hem lay down his board and hopped on. We took the long road to the front of the mall again, making sure to lose Boot along the way.

Lona and I went up the escalator, since time was tight.

A few minutes later, we were waving goodbye to each other.

How did it go? Well, let's just say that the anniversary for the next Dauntless Games are already considered set.

_VOCAB:_

_Dauntless Games: A game of tag and hide-and-seek._

_Terminated: To be tagged or be made "it."_

Who knew a simple game could be so dangerous?

I didn't. No one did.

But here we are, one week later, with terminators walking the streets of the same mall.

The makers of the game want to destroy us.

Two Months Later

LYRISSA

"Run, run, run! You two, get out!"

Jordan grabbed my arm and leapt from the pipe hideout we were taking.

"Lona!"

I grasped the girl's arm and dragged her along.

Jordan was an extremely sarcastic boy with curly black hair and dark eyes, and not to mention pale skin. He just joined us this week, and this week was when the disaster struck.

Bara followed along, just as the pipes exploded behind her.

She was running fast, but not fast enough.

I grabbed my customized ninja stars.

They were spherical orbs with the sign of yin-yang on them, and would flare up in fire as soon as they touched the enemy. The purple and gold string on my fingers connecting them were unbreakable.

I used them to snatch Bara away from the explosion of pipes.

"Whew! That was close, Lyra. Thanks."

All of the crew joined up together.

"Here's the plan. I was thinking that we could do this in triples. Bara, Boot, and Alec, Lona, Jordan, and me, Hem and George, and Clemon."

All of us nodded. "We split up. Hide anywhere, don't try to attack. Got it?"

They all nodded.

"Come on, then."

I stood tall as the night wind blew my hair away from my face.

"Jumping off the roof? Sounds dramatic." Jordan joked.

"Ha-ha, very sarcastic… NOT."

"Just keep flirting, and we'll see where this goes- What?" The turquoise haired girl shrugged.

I took another step toward the edge.

"Um, Lyra? It doesn't seem like a good idea…" Lona trailed off as she realized I was being serious.

"Ne…Then what other choice do we have? The terminators are way stronger than us."

"Either way, I don't like it."

"Too bad."

I stepped back and took a running leap.

I dove downwards, headfirst, arms behind me.

I flipped so that my back faced the ground. I shot out the ninja stars I had named Yume and Meyumi.

They caught the streetlights and I swung down to the ground, over the shiny robot head of a terminator.

I knew that Lona had magnet shoes, and Jordan had a large brush that had a sharp end and a magnetic end.

They landed smoothly on the side street.

"**Subject Found. Taking Aim**."

We spun round, to find the sleek black and red shooter arm of a terminator staring me in the face.

"**Shooting in 3…2…1…****"**

I tossed Yume to Lona and shot Meyumi onto the light post above, dragging Jordan with me.

All of us landed smoothly onto the light-post as the terminator's bullet found the empty street.

Our relief was not for long.

A clawed machine hand shot out and snatched Lona from her position.

"Lona!"

I tried to grab her using Meyumi, but the string wasn't long enough, surprisingly. Or perhaps we acted too late.

I sat down in despair (On the light, of course).

"Now what?"

Jordan suddenly tapped may shoulder. "They're taking her to the roof of SOHO! C'mon, let's go!"

I leapt off the light and we tore through the streets.

"Please, please, please don't kill her."

BARA

Boot and I were in serious trouble.

Let's start with: WE LOST ALEC.

"Boot, you idiot! How could you afford to lose another team member! The plan was to survive these games for two weeks and head back home, idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"

"Ugh.. Bara, if you yell louder, the terminators are gonna catch us."

We were crouching behind a bush when I had leapt up and started screaming at him. Now he pulled me back down and we stared forward, studying our surroundings.

And then someone- or something- pulled me away. I could only register Boot yelling, "Behind you!" Before everything went black.

Jordan

Okay, so a little summary here.

1. Lyrissa had this wonderful idea to jump off a roof.

Good news: It worked.

Bad news: We nearly got shot.

2. We lost Lona.

Good news: One less member in our group.

Bad news: We lost a member of our group.

"Ne, Jordan! Boot just contacted me. He lost Alec and Bara."

What I said about the one less member was good thing? Forget I said that. It is SCARY to be out here. If I didn't have Lyra here now… I'd probably be dead.

Lyra's feet were going so fast she looked like she was flying. Of course, in the tunnel light, we couldn't really tell.

The night eventually got too dark to see, because terminators had extinguished the lights.

Apparently, Lyra got Yume back as well, because she lit both of the stars up in her hands and tossed one to me.

I fumbled with it, but I didn't lose it.

"There! SOHO building!"

I don't know where she got her awesome eyesight from, but I didn't care. All I knew was that she was pretty, clever, and sarcastic.

Wait, what?

"On the roof, I think. I see figures."

Never mind I said anything. At least this thing isn't going to be published.

I handed back Meyumi as I flicked out my paintbrush and painted up the wall. I stepped onto the walls while Lyra just flicked out Yume and jumped up an entire level.

We continued that way, me painting walls of glass while Yume got Lyra onto the top level.

When we looked down, SOHO garden looked like it was Photo-Shopped using a swirl design. Everything was mixed up.

Speaking of swirls, some purple, blue and green ones were dancing in front of us.

Faeries (They were genetically modified people that have robot wings attached to their backs).

If you looked closely, you could see that the purple one had wide blonde hair that was stretched to her shoulders by some ornaments. Her eyes were dark blue, wise and sharp. Her clothing included a long ruffled purple skirt to her feet, a blue tank top with only one sleeve and slim, sharp-edged purple wings.

Her name was Nebulae. (Ne-BU-Lie)

She touched down on Lyra's shoulder and pulled at the girl's snowflake earrings.

"Ow," Muttered Lyra, surprised. "Nebulae! Where were you?"

"Speaking with Frosty on how to get you out."

Nebulae gestured to the blue faerie.

Her lips were light blue, her short frizzy hair was light blue, her short skirt was a shade of ice blue, her tank top was also blue, and so were her eyes.

Yup, that's Lona's faerie.

Speaking of which…

Something just pulled my ear.

That would be Asteroid.

Talk about pixie-like! Her hair was a green pixie cut, eyes sharp and pale blue, her dress was very "Santa Claus-ish" except it was green. She wore a red headband in her hair (I told her before red and green make a bad match, but she thought I was insulting her hair).

"What, no hello for me? I'm your faerie, for Pete's sake!"

I turned and stuck out my tongue at the green-aura faerie.

"You are a PIXIE."

Asteroid shook her head. "Never mind."

We stared at the camp.

Lyra took out Meyumi and flung it as far out as she can when the terminators went off to do something else.

She started dragging the cage holding Lona toward us. Lona smiled at us and nodded excitedly.

The floor did not give away our attempt at rescue, but one terminator turned, studying the scene.

Lyra hurriedly took Meyumi back into her palm. The terminator then made his way to the edge of the building, where we were hiding.

"Duck!" Lyra hissed hurriedly, dropping to her knees.

The terminator clanked to the edge of the building and stood there for a minute, though it felt like hours.

Smoke stated wafting from the end of it's guns, preparing to shoot.

I started to gag, but Lyra smacks her (very cold, mind you) hand across my mouth and shuts me up.

The terminator hears a noise made by Lona to distract it.

"**Shut Up Human**."

The terminator left, and Lyra continued to get a clear shot of Lona.

Frosty helped Nebulae, Asteroid and I get down the building, while Lyra stayed to rescue the other prisoners.

Please, please let her be safe…

LYRISSA

I shot out both stars and dragged the cage that was holding Lona. The cage slid over easily and using my hair clip, I unlocked the cage. Lona tumbled down and I grabbed her easily and steadied her.

A Terminator clanked over. It stared over the edge, scanning its surroundings.

Then it decided to look down.

I took that chance to curl Yume around its metal throat and Lona thought it would be a good time to snip it's tiny head off with her bracelet, which is really a sharp-edged metal chain with a few ornaments dangling from it.

The other terminators closed in.

No time to hop down.

I gave Yume to Lona and shot Meyumi into the light sign of SOHO.

And I jumped.

Instead of making the whole way there, I pulled back Meyumi midway from the swing and fired it at another, lower building.

I could feel Lona's presence behind me, and even from up here, I could see a faint silhouette of Jordan, framed by the three faeries.

A bullet ricocheted off of the glass in front of us.

"They're trying to shoot us down!" Lona screamed.

"No," I replied, "They're trying to shoot invisible balloons to win a prize! Of course they're trying to shoot us down!"

Jordan (A.K.A Mr. Sarcastic) would be proud.

I swung away from the shooting by staring at the reflection from the glass.

I dodge an incoming bullet by swinging to my right.

The glass exploded, showering me in shards.

The next bullet sliced a cut on Lona's hand, and she dropped to the ground, screaming. I caught Yume in my free hand.

The third bullet cut straight through the path that Meyumi was traveling to, and gravity took over, and I plummeted, headfirst, towards the ground.


End file.
